


Life Eternal

by deadendgotham



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dark Magic, Fate & Destiny, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Slow Burn, Vampires, can vampires truly love? hmmm, lance is badass ok, this story is a bit graphic so pls don't read if blood and violence and such bothers you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26986513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadendgotham/pseuds/deadendgotham
Summary: "Keith has had enough of nights like this. The graveyard is old as fuck and he feels too old; the hunt isn't as thrilling as it once was. The moon shines bright and full overhead but he still opts to use his flashlight, glad to have the artificial direction. Each tombstone stands in shadow but he doesn't bother reading the names. They're gone and he's here and that's enough for him to remember why he's here. The news covered the murders well enough but to anyone like him, someone trained with a sharp eye for the peculiar, they'd be able to spot the signs of something even more sinister than the wanton evil of humankind."[ Keith knows that there are creatures in this world that are worse than those people can see. He's dealt with them for years, trained as a child to fight against them, to hate them enough to kill them. But when a force bigger than any he's seen before arises, he might have to turn to those very creatures to defeat it. And, as these things go, that is easier said than done. ]
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Life Eternal

  
  
Keith has had enough of nights like this. The graveyard is old as fuck and he feels too old; the hunt isn't as thrilling as it once was. The moon shines bright and full overhead but he still opts to use his flashlight, glad to have the artificial direction. Each tombstone stands in shadow but he doesn't bother reading the names. They're gone and he's here and that's enough for him to remember _why_ he's here. The news covered the murders well enough but to anyone like him, someone trained with a sharp eye for the peculiar, they'd be able to spot the signs of something even more sinister than the wanton evil of humankind.   
  
The forest around him is thick and dark and deep with hidden things. He's sure there are even tombstones in there, wrapped with vine and caked in dirt. His boots make the fallen leaves crunch but he doesn't stop, not for a second. He passes statues of angels and holy figures, crosses and cheap fake flowers. Though eventually he finds the crime scene easy enough, the yellow tape still held up and flapping in the chilly wind. He sniffs and squats, fingers digging into the dirt.   
  
Grave soil. It has a specific texture and he knows hardly anyone else can tell the difference.   
  
Resting his wrist on his knee, he lets the soil fall back to the earth. The tombstone within the police tape has yet to be removed, which means it is still stained with blood. Splattered, he can tell it was a violent attack.   
  
"Fuckin' fantastic." He mutters humorlessly, rising to step over the tape.   
  
Shining the flashlight onto the stone, he reads the name of some woman who'd passed in the late 1800's. When he looks atop it, he can see the outline of a cup, which means it sat there while the blood was spilled. He turns and lets his light trail along the ground, keen gaze searching for anything else that could detect that his suspicions are correct. It wouldn't be the first time some small time detective team overlooked the obvious. He kicks at the dirt, sweeping it this way and that. It's a quiet noise, almost nice despite the circumstances. Keith walks to the backside of the tombstone and squats again, running his fingers down to the base. He pushes his fingers deep into the soft soil, glad that it hasn't rained and turned to mud. If it had, that mud would've hardened to hell by now.   
  
He wiggles his fingers until he feels it; cold and hard and not at all what is meant to be in someone's final resting place. So, he wraps his hand around it and pulls it free from where it had been buried. The vial is large and cylindrical, the top sealed with ancient silver. A single garnet gem is embedded into the side, matching the dark liquid inside.   
  
"Someone didn't finish their dinner." He says, disgust rolling in his gut.   
  
"You're right." A voice suddenly speaks behind him, sultry and dangerous. "Though I'd actually consider that my desert."  
  
Keith stands fast and spins, immediately reaching for his belt. But before he can grab the stake, a hand is against his throat, the skin frigid.   
  
The man that stares at him is a familiar one, eyes blue but so far from anything lively. His skin retains the color of his life but it is still dimmed; dull and dead.   
  
"It's a bit rude to steal someone's hard earned meal, don't you think?" Lance says, mouth twisted in anger. He looks ravenous, as though he's been starved. His cheeks are sunken in, lips chapped, hair hanging limp against his head. "And here I was, thinking you lot had more manners than that."  
  
Keith coughs against his hand and shifts his foot, knowing when to take a chance. And when a vampire is weak, the chances couldn't get any better than this. He kicks out and latches his ankle against Lance's own, tugging hard and fast until he is toppling backwards. The moment his throat is free, Keith lurches forward and straddles him, eager to finally get this over with. For years, he's been running into this guy. For _years_ , he's been so close to ending it. He lets himself believe that tonight will be different.  
  
Lance's hand shoots out and grabs hold of Keith's wrist, bending it to a painful angle. He grunts and feigns with the pain, still refusing to let the vial fall. Lance's eyes slide to it and stick, desperation growing. Which is, of course, really bad.   
  
"Even hungry, I'm stronger than you." Lance spits and twists, hips pushing hard enough to roll them.  
  
Keith tries his best to get out of it but he fails, now finding himself the one landing in the dirt. Lance climbs on top and snatches the vial from Keith's grip, opening the hatch with a flick of his thumb. It all happens so quickly, Keith hardly has time to react.  
  
"There we are." Lance says, closing his eyes.   
  
He holds Keith down with a single hand and tips his head back, the thick blood sliding from the bottom of the vial until it reaches his mouth. It coats his lips and a drop drips from his chin, landing on Keith's exposed stomach. It's almost magic, the way the blood revives him. Keith watches with equal horror and amazement, though he'd never admit the latter. Lance's skin gains faux color, his hair retains volume and when he licks at the blood on his lips, his tongue is pink.   
  
"Much better." He groans and tosses the vial aside, rolling his neck and letting out a deep breath he doesn't truly need.   
  
When he looks down at Keith, it is the look of a betrayed, vengeful god.   
  
"You gonna kill me now or not?" Keith sneers, wondering just how quickly he could reach for his stake.   
  
"Not." Lance sighs and leans closer, close enough to make Keith freeze. His nose touches Keith's neck, lips wet as they brush against his pulse. "Though it is tempting. Like always."  
  
When he looks to Keith again, he looks pained. Not so much as he was when he was hungry, but it's still there and just as it has every time before, it makes Keith pause. He'll wonder later if Lance was hypnotizing him, using some devilish magic to keep him tame in his grasp.   
  
"That expression." Lance hums, "I wonder if you even know that you make it."   
  
"It's called hatred." Keith clears his throat, the expanse of it sore. "And disgust. And the desire to drive my stake through your undead heart."  
  
Lance chuckles, a deep sound. "Ah, but you do admit that I _have_ a heart."  
  
"I assume you did once."  
  
At this, Lance's face hardens. His jaw ticks and his hooded gaze clears, eyes shifting to the graveyard. He looks around for a moment, as if debating his next move.   
  
"Should I let you live?" He asks quietly. In a way, Keith feels that he isn't even asking him the question. He speaks solely to himself. "Or should I just put all of this to an end. Should I just finally let it go?"  
  
A striking fear twists inside of Keith at the thought. He might not be the most keen to wake up at dawn and smell the roses, but he sure as hell doesn't want to be six feet under yet. Especially not by the hands of the damned. His father taught him better than that. So, with the final surge of strength he can muster, he manages to catch Lance off guard and rip his wrist free. He uses the heel of his hand to push into Lance's nose, though he knows he can't break any bones. The simple motion does the trick anyway.   
  
He gets a leg free and sends a strong kick to Lance's chest, using the leverage to push himself away. He slides against the dirt and finally pulls the damn stake free, getting to his feet fast. But when he looks for Lance, he is gone.   
  
"You've always been so smart." Lance says, voice somehow echoing around the cemetery. "And _reckless_."   
  
The voice is behind him now and Keith turns, holding the stake at chest level. It's a training technique; if the vampire rushes him, he can slide it easily into his heart. But Lance isn't there, yet somehow, he is _everywhere_. Out of every vampire he's encountered, Keith only knows of him being able to do this.   
  
"It's like a game of cat-and-mouse, you know." Lance continues and Keith whips his head to the right, toward the only monolith on the grounds. It's the oldest marker here, tall and faded with time. Lance is leaning against it, arms crossed. He watches Keith intently, head cocked. "I could snap your neck in seconds."  
  
"Why not do it then?" Keith flexes his fingers on the stake, making himself push the fear deep down. He can shove it so far away he won't feel it until next week, when he wakes in a panic from an old nightmare. "You've had plenty of chances."   
  
"Seven, to be exact."   
  
"Who's really counting."  
  
Lance smirks, flashing his fangs. "Me, obviously. But maybe I just like all of the attention you give me because I'm an egomaniac. _That_ , and the fact that you're the only one who's managed to keep me on my toes." He pushes away from the monolith and takes a step forward, "It makes me wonder what you would be like if you were like me. It's a curiosity I would like to sate."  
  
Those words make Keith flinch.   
  
"No? You don't like the thought of that?" Lance makes his voice sound hurt, almost disappointed. "I do, if we're being honest. And we can be honest with each other now, can't we? It almost feels like we're old friends meeting up for brunch." He laughs, "If brunch were the blood of the innocent and all that, but that's beside the point."  
  
"Never. I'll never want to be like you."   
  
"And that's a pity, Keith. Truly."  
  
Suddenly, Lance is behind him. It's disorienting and Keith can't do anything against the arm slithering around his waist. Lance's hold isn't very tight, almost as if he were giving Keith the option to pull away. But then his hair is brushing Keith's neck and his voice is in Keith's ear, _so_ much clearer than before.   
  
"I could give you life eternal." He says, voice layered with something new. "One bite, that's all."  
  
His lips brush against Keith's throat, right against the vein that flows with so much of his own blood. Keith's eyes flutter and he curses himself, knowing that if his father or brother were watching, they would be disgusted. But they aren't here and he is and he's been _so_ f _ucking lonely_ it's a constant ache in his bones. Something sharp touches his skin and like lightning against the clouds, Keith is shocked out of it. He takes a deep, stuttering breath and pulls away before turning to slam the stake home.   
  
But the air is empty.   
  
Lance is gone.   
  
With no hesitation, he finds the vial and shoves it into his pocket, eager to get out of the cemetery. He rushes to his bike and turns the engine, listening to it roar to life. It interrupts the silence and he welcomes it, quickly donning his helmet before leaning forward to drive. His tire spins as he pulls out of the small parking space, kicking up leaves and rocks. The forest passes fast but he hardly sees it, instead soaking up the feeling of chilly wind on his skin. The roads are winding and he takes to them like a bat out of hell, no doubt waking those who reside inside their homes. The thought of it makes him want to laugh; there is no true safety there. What is a locked door to a creature like Lance?   
  
At the thought of him, Keith goes faster. There are eyes on his back but they aren't truly Lance's. They are those that he failed; his father, his brother, his own. How many vampires has he killed? Enough to make him numb to the process. But when he rewinds every encounter he's had with Lance, there is no numbness there.   
  
It makes him sick.  
  
He arrives at his motel and showers fast, gladly tossing his dirt covered clothes in a torn up bag. He'll end up burning them anyway. He tends to do that after running into Lance; almost as if it helps him rid himself of the memory. He packs the rest of his things in the same bag and shoulders it, chugging a bottle of water before returning to his bike. Now that the murders have been explained, he knows he has to regroup. Returning to the basics is a simple way to rewire his brain. Once he does that, he can make a plan, one that will fucking stick for once.   
  
He can't let this continue.  
  
And yet, when he finally merges onto the highway heading west, he wonders if maybe he has a bigger problem.   
  
Maybe, just like Lance, there is something in him that won't let whatever this is go.   
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to post a new story for October and since I miss stories about vampires, I figured I'd write my own! I hope you liked this chapter and look forward to reading more! I'm excited about this story. Let me know what you think!
> 
> Also??? I just really wanted dark vampire lance :')


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